Is there any merit to the notion that eating a plant-based diet (or, to put it another way, avoiding animal foods such as meat and dairy) has benefits for male sexual health? To be blunt, does it lead to better erections or enhanced libido?

I sort of didn’t want to go there in connection with the vegan boyfriends post, because of the PETA connection. PETA has — I’m understating here — a passionate engagement with the ethics of eating animals, and thus they are not to be trusted in connection with questions about the relative nutritional merits of animals versus plants. Nutrition is not what engages them; they’d probably argue for a “rocks and stones” diet, or maybe breathatarianism, if they thought it would get people to stop eating animals. Admirable, perhaps, if they really are engaged (as some of them seem to think) in the greatest moral crusade of the 21st century — but utterly worthless if you’re actually interested in the question of what you ought to be eating from a health-and-nutrition standpoint. Anyway, that’s enough about PETA. (I mean it. Moderators are standing by.)

Let’s get back to the proposition before the house: Does eating a plant-based diet (or “plant strong” as some people put it) improve erectile function in men? It’s a heavily loaded question, because it’s essentially the converse of the proposition that eating meat and dairy wrecks your boner. And if that’s true, there’s obviously a lot more men who would want to know about it, than currently do know about it.

Every diet and health proposition you care to name, in this modern world, has a small constellation of doctors, dietitians, and self-help-book authors orbiting around it. Shining brightly in the plant-based/plant-strong constellation are several doctors including Dr. John McDougall and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and perhaps Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Plant-based eating is distinct from general vegetarianism or veganism in that those terms sometimes imply an ethical stance with respect to animals versus plants in the diet; and further distinct because many vegetarians tend to be sanguine about highly refined plant foods (white flour and plant oils) whereas most of the plant-strong people believe in eating whole plant foods to the general exclusion of pretty much everything else. Fruits, veggies, beans, whole grains, potatoes — these are the building blocks of the plant-strong diet. Olive oil and tofu and fake grain-based meat substitutes — the frequent staples of traditional vegetarianism — are less favored.

There’s a movie in this dietary-theory orbit, too. It’s called Forks Over Knives — you may have seen it in the theater. If so, you saw a bit of Drs. Campbell and Esselstyn in it. You also saw a distinguished older Asian gentleman talk about how plant-based eating has an unexpected benefit: it “raises the flag” as he so delicately and humorously put it.

That clip, and some related footage from the movie, have made it onto YouTube in this short video (the “raise the flag” comment is at about the one-minute mark):

If that’s the proposition — eat plants, unrefined to the extent possible, don’t eat anything with a face or a mother, and your boner will rise better and stronger than before — then what’s the operating theory as to why?

(If you watched the YouTube clip you’re ahead of the class now. You can text somebody or something while everybody else catches up.)

Esselstyn’s book is probably the best place to get a detailed answer. I don’t have it in front of me, but I have read it. And in short (I’ll link to some more detailed expositions of this in a minute) the idea is that your vascular system is lined with cells that produce nitric oxide. Eating animal foods and refined oils — the theory goes — damages those cells, so they produce less. When you stop eating animal foods, those cells heal, and they go back to producing the nitric. What does nitric oxide do for you? It dilates your blood vessels and improves blood flow throughout your body. That’s excellent for your heart, which is why Esselstyn titles his book “How to Prevent And Reverse Heart Disease.” But dilated blood vessels and improved blood flow…in your penis? That, boys, is the firm heart of the matter.

I can hear you out there, thinking and saying it: “Cool story, bro.” Yup — it is a cool story. But is it true? Or is it just another dietary myth with a books-and-seminars industry attached, like Atkins or colon cleansing or those magic hormone diet drops that are all the rage right now despite being thoroughly debunked back in the 1950s?

Meat-eaters are likely to become impotent because of damage caused to the artery system that supplies their penis with the blood that causes an erection. Erectile dysfunction is more often seen in men with elevated cholesterol levels and high levels of LDL “bad” cholesterol — both conditions related to habitual meat-eating.

Here’s a random forum post that offers a common-sense exposition on this. I’m offering it not as an authority (it isn’t, nor claims to be) but for its blunt logic:

The mechanism that causes an erection is increased blood flow to the penis. If you have clogged arteries, they don’t just clog in your heart or head – they clog everywhere (hence, “peripheral vascular disease”). This means that blood flow doesn’t get to the places that need it. So, if the blood vessels (arteries) in your penis are clogged because you ate too many manly steaks, that means when you need those arteries to be full to pleasure that wench (er, or whatever), they can’t get full – resulting in (at the very least) a “softy” or at the worst, complete impotence. I really think if more men knew this, they would put down that steak and pick up a portabello.

As for the rest of the anatomy down there – the bigger you are, the bigger your scrotum tends to be and the smaller the penis becomes in comparison – and then when you add in the scrotal edema that comes with the disease processes of the obese, you often end up with a negative number.

But now — finally — we’re coming to the fun part. Earlier in the week was Valentine’s Day, and over at the Engine 2 blog there appeared a Valentine’s Day post (by Dr. Esselstyn’s daughter Jane) on just this very question. Here is — you will maybe pardon the expression — the meat of that post:

One of the most amazing things that happened to our father’s male heart patients while on his Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease diet was not that their cholesterol numbers went down, or their blood pressure numbers plummeted, or their weight dropped effortlessly, or their type 2 diabetes went away — it was that another part of their body was doubling in size.

I could not believe this HUGE piece of evidence was not gaining more attention in the medical field. What a motivational kick in the pants. Seriously, some patients need the proverbial skillet to the head announcing, “Stop eating all that penile artery-clogging grease, meat and cheese, if you want to get it up past the age of 40!”

…

Our vascular system is everywhere in our bodies and is made up of an intricate network of blood vessels (also known as arteries and veins) that carry our blood throughout our body. The innermost lining of every artery is called the endothelium – a smooth, slippery surface that is spectacular for a number of reasons. We are going to focus on the endothelium’s ability to release nitric oxide, which when released dilates arteries.

Did you catch that? Nitric oxide can cause the small round tubes that carry our blood to expand – get bigger.

So, in a healthy body when the brain sends the blood vessels a neurological message of, say …

“There is a tiger, run!”
“Save that child who is heading into traffic!”
“What just went bump in the night?”

… this causes the arteries in the legs to release nitric oxide, which dilates arterial walls, provides an increase in blood flow and the power to sprint to safety.

The same goes for the penile arteries – the ones that provide blood flow to the penis. The brain sends a neurological message of … say …

“Oh, the mood is right.”
“Hey, the kids are all at sleepovers.”
“Hey, the kids are all at college.”
“Thanks, for doing the dishes, honey.”

This triggers the arteries of the penis to release nitric oxide, which dilates arterial walls and provides increased blood flow to the corpora cavernosa (engorge-able) tissue of the penis. The engorgement of this tissue does something essential – it presses up against, compromises, sort of cuts off the flow of blood in the penile vein. This blocks drainage of blood out of the penis creating a blood-filled erection, a boner, a stiffy, a hard-on, you name it.

The Standard American Diet (otherwise referred to as SAD) hardens and thickens the lining of the arteries. The fact that this plaque-y build-up within the arteries comes from eating a meaty, greasy, cheesy diet is widely known. Yet, lesser known, is the injury to the endothelium – that smooth, slippery innermost layer of blood vessels that releases nitric oxide. This is where we are focusing once again.

Day after day, meal after meal, bite after bite of highly processed, fatty foods injure the endothelium’s ability to function correctly. This sort of diet compromises the endothelium’s ability to release nitric oxide (gasp).

Dr. Vogel, Director of Clinical Vascular Biology from the University of Maryland, performed a brilliant experiment that showed how quickly the endothelium loses the ability to release nitric oxide after a fatty, processed meal. The insult is almost immediate.

Any male eating the standard American diet, pay heed if you enjoy your erections: No nitric oxide means no dilation – which means no increased blood flow – which means no squashing of the penile veins – which means no blood build up in the penis – which means no erection! Which means no …

The uplifting news is that a plant-strong diet filled with whole grains, greens, fruits, veggies, beans and berries literally cleans out the plaque coating the endothelium of the vascular system and repairs the endothelial cell’s ability to release nitric oxide.

There’s more — including testimonials from firefighters — but I’ve already quoted too liberally. You’ll have to read the rest over there.

So what do you think, peeps?

This entry was posted on Friday, February 17th, 2012 at 6:33 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Responses to “Plant Foods And Erectile Function”

Wow! You know,adequately addressing this topic would require a book. Certainly as much space yet again as you have used starting this posting.

Amongst the varying tidbits that I BELIEVE that I might know, I’ll try to run up the proverbial flagpole as succinctly as I can.

It’s perhaps more important to have a higher RELATIONSHIP of HDL (good cholesterol), to LDL, than it is to merely limit LDL intake.

Cholesterol is necessary for normal testosterone (the male hormone), production within the body.

Production of testosterone naturally increases with regular exercise.

Testosterone is VERY important in achieving and maintaining erections.

Marijuana increases estrogen (the female hormone), production in males.

Cows (and some other farm animals), are routinely given various substances (including, but not limed to, growth hormones), even though they may or may not be legally employed, which increase estrogen levels, which in turn increases milk production, as well as weight gain (Cattle are marketed by the pound…). I have acquaintances in the cattle business, you’d be surprised at what actually goes on in order to increase profits…

Speaking of capitalism, it is actually common knowledge that the “one percenters” want to reduce the world population, and many of them have little or no scruples as to exactly HOW this is achieved.

“David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell University, and Mario Giampietro, senior researcher at the National Research Institute on Food and Nutrition (INRAN), place in their study Food, Land, Population and the U.S. Economy the maximum U.S. population for a sustainable economy at 200 million. To achieve a sustainable economy and avert disaster, the United States must reduce its population by at least one-third, and world population will have to be reduced by two-thirds, says the study. A more recent study by Pimentel and colleagues (2010) suggests that the Earth can support a population of two billion individuals (current levels are about 7 billion), but only if all individuals are willing to live at a European standard of living and use natural resources sustainably.” –Wiki

The mysterious (and, ahem… expensive!…), Georgia Guidestones call for a population of only half a billion worldwide:

Using somewhat arbitrarily set standards, about fifty percent of the population at or above reproduction age is now considered to have high blood pressure. Nearly every single one of the countless prescribed blood pressure medications cause male impotence.

One of the exceptions is Viagra, which they won’t prescribe for hypertension, even though that’s what it was originally developed for.

All of the various beta-blockers (used to treat high blood pressure), list Peyronie’s disease as a possible side effect. Peyronie’s is a growth of fibrous plaques in the erectile tissue of the penis, which as it progresses, makes the achieving or the maintaining of erections dysfunctional. This scarring also makes your penis lose both length and girth.

Calcium channel blockers, another popular class of medications used to treat hypertension has also been linked to Peyronie’s.

High sodium diets are a main cause of hypertension. Just try to find ramen noodles or Spanish rice at your grocers that doesn’t contain added monosodium glutamate for instance.

Another hidden salt commonly found in prepared foods is autolyzed yeast extract, which is basically salt and yeast…

The more anti-hypertensive drugs they can sell, the more Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis they can sell. There are billions of dollars to be made in pharmaceuticals. Some people will do ANYTHING to make that sort of money….

Practically all of fast food, and most of all other chain restaurant prepared foods are high in salt. Want fries with that sir?

Obviously erectile issues have many causes. It’s also the case that eating a plant-based diet might affect erectile function via alternative pathways not mentioned in my post (via losing the hormones in meat, or winding up with reduced sodium in the diet due to avoiding processed foods). So, some of Dr. Whiplash’s tid-bits are relevant to the discussion for sure!

There’s also this excellent article from The Huffington Post on the subject, which starts out talking about the problems with meat-heavy diets & goes on with other good suggestions — most of which could be applied to living well rather than just to “raising the flag”:

Too make things even more interesting, let’s not forget that biochemistry, in the strictest sense, is not the only factor to be considered. Let’s not forget the hapless men who, sex-positive though they may be, have a psychological issue which works well to keep the rocket on the launch pad. They get the pleasure (?) of experiencing erections during the night (normal for healthy males) and zip when it counts. :-(

Let me see if I can follow the main vein of argument laid out so far: a meat-heavy diet is high in LDL cholesterol, which adds plaque to the inside of the veins, and the plaque layer (as well as making heart disease more likely) inhibits nitric oxide release, which in turn inhibits the dilation response, which makes erections common or less throbbingly tumescent?

Since I don’t want to chase down and read the journal articles, I’ll assume those things are broadly true for the sake of argument. To me it seems like meat in moderation is probably not going to affect this, especially meats like fish which aren’t as heavy on the LDL=cholesterol; I wonder exactly how heavy a meat diet one needs to start losing boners consistently. I live with vegetarians, so I don’t eat much meat, but I like it, and I could certainly be biased by my meat cravings.

Also, I think the way people digest cholesterol has a significant genetic component that is independent of diet, so even with two people eating the same things, the effect could be different.

I was trying to be at the very least obliquely relevant, and in the interest of brevity, hoping that followers of your blog would read between the lines a bit.

There is much, much, more to this story than meets the casual eye. There is a war going on against the penises of your readers (those with such equipment…). The war is mainly against reproduction… it’s attempted population control.

I’m basically in support of the premise that a diet heavy in at least many kinds of popular meats, is bad for your sex life. I’ll bet that most people don’t know that when they buy a pork tenderloin, or roast, or a chicken, at their grocers, that it’s highly likely to have been injected with various chemicals AFTER slaughter, and that the sodium content has been artificially raised in the interest of preservation or taste.

Meats tend to have high sodium content, and high LDL cholesterol. Vegetables such as eggplant, walnuts, almonds, and peanuts lower your bad cholesterol.

When was the last time your medical provider told you that? …or that red wine and Guinness stout increase your HDL levels via polyphenols? …or that shiitake maitake, and reishi mushrooms, lentils, garlic, and onions, will all naturally lower your blood pressure? … or that watermelons improve the vascular health of your penis due to citruline content?

So far, it is pretty rare that a fresh vegetable has been injected with any cock-blocking sodium, but I’ll also bet that most people are unaware that mega-corporations have genetically modified their crooked-neck squash for instance, and their corn, their soy, and their canola and cottonseed oils with an element used in making agent orange.

Animals that eat genetically modified foods are DIFFERENT! (Er… humans by the way, are animals…)

Genetically engineered pesticide-resistant seeds, made by western corporations and used in India for instance, has led to 25,000 farmer suicides. Many killed themselves by drinking the very pesticide that ruined their lives.

Thanks to huge truckloads of special interest money, the sneaky bastards are allowed to put on a label “May contain one or more of the following oils: olive oil, peanut oil, or cottonseed oil.” Well , I’ll bet you a Big Mac that the oil they use is the cheap one, that has little or no nutrition, or is likely even actually be outright harmful to your health!

Top world-class biochemists/microbiologists are being murdered by the hundreds in this war. Dead men tell no tales they say. Crazy talk you say? Well, there was this list:

Levitra was also approved by the USFDA in 2009 for treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Anyone out there ever had your doctor prescribe this for high blood pressure? Anyone…? Anyone…? Bueller…? Bueller…? Bueller…?

Arginine is a precursor for the synthesis of boner-inducing nitric oxide. Arginine can be found in raw wheat germ, raw cashews, raw walnuts, raw almonds, raw pumpkin seeds, and raw sunflower seeds. It can also be synthesized in the body from raw grape seeds, apples, açaí oil, cabbage, spinach, asparagus, garlic, ginseng, beans, and eggs.

Speaking of nitric oxide, diabetes interferes with its pathways in the body. Speaking of diabetes, high fructose corn syrup has become an increasingly common food ingredient in the last 40 years. In the U.S., HFCS is among the sweeteners that have primarily replaced cane sugar in the food industry.

Health concerns have been raised about “HFCS” regarding its potential to cause obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and its containing of traces of mercury (a known neurotoxin).

Most readers of this blog are probably unaware that some honey available in supermarkets contain HFCS or utilized HFCS in its production. Variously unhealthily tainted foodstuffs are insidious in this age.

Major soft drink makers such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi use sugar in other nations, but switched to HFCS in the U.S. and Canada in 1984. I don’t drink soft drinks as a rule, but in the late eighties I called Coke to complain about its aftertaste when, due to limited choices at the time, I had a Coke for lunch. I was told that the formula remained unchanged!?!!??? I was also asked if I intended on continuing to consume their product in the future…

My girlfriend, who drinks Coke and prefers the actual cane sugar formula, buys Mexican Coke at our local ethnic grocers, and during Passover times, seeks out the Kosher sugar formula sold at specialty grocers.

Mega corporations, such as Archer Daniels Midland, lobby for the continuation of U.S. government corn subsidies.

The penis problem is not merely a matter of carnivore vs. vegan, but the reduction of meat consumption, and an increase in the consumption of certain plant-based foods, is a good place to start.

If your penis won’t work, it cuts back on your reproduction ability. If you can’t reproduce due to your diet, you become a prime candidate for a Darwin Award…

Considering that humans became humans at least in part because they began eating meat a couple of million years ago, a meat, or partially meat, diet cannot be all bad. We’ve evolved with it.

On the other hand, humans have been eating cultivated grain crops (wheat, rice, barley, etc.) for only some thousands of years.

I suspect the healthiest diet consists, in part, of moderate amounts of meat from animals fed on grasses rather than cultivated grains. And then, like mom and the Department of Health tell us, goodly amounts of vegetables, fruits, and (wild) fish with minimal amounts of sugar and other processed junk.

Stephen, I would draw the conclusion that malnutrition affects erectile function (or effects erectile dysfunction). The Romans regarded lettuce as an aphrodisiac despite most herbalists since considering it as the opposite. The reason for its efficacy in the Roman diet was that it contained vitamins they desperately needed.

OldDad, grains aren’t the only other thing to eat besides meat, and even the grains we eat today are apparently quite different from those we had 60-70 years ago. Go back a few hundred years, different again.

My plan is to eat a variety of food, knock back some vitamins and other crazy stuff from a company called StemTech, exercise more, eat a touch of game meat, some fish, and keep my brain and body moving and have fun. If nothing else, I’ll enjoy life :)

I’ve been on a vegan diet for the past month, reluctantly, as an intellectual curiosity, going in a happy meat-eater with a raw-heavy, well-balanced diet. I don’t love everything about the vegan diet, but one unexpected result has quickly, easily (firmly, thickly) stood out, before I knew to look for it. It’s been fun.

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